Hey Guy, I gotta get something off my chest...

dogofwar said:

I used a 1/2 filled 5 gallon tank for breeding. Remove the male from his bowl and place him in the tank so that he can build a bubble nest. Remove the female from her bowl and place her in a glass lamp cover (in the tank). Lift to allow the pair to mate (once the male's built his nest). Remove the female back to her bowl when done. The male raises the fry in the breeding tank for a couple of weeks...and then back to the bowl for him.

Matt

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Matt,

Did you see my pair of Dragon scale Blue/Red, just did then exactly like you did in a 1/2 filled 5gal tank. They're wigglers today!

Bettas are awesome fish! But fit think they'd thrive in my 900gal well, they'd be in the overflow into the sump once they try to take a breath!

AJ


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Yes - sweet fish!

Matt

FlatFishLeo said:

Matt,

Did you see my pair of Dragon scale Blue/Red, just did then exactly like you did in a 1/2 filled 5gal tank. They're wigglers today!

Bettas are awesome fish! But fit think they'd thrive in my 900gal well, they'd be in the overflow into the sump once they try to take a breath!

AJ


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Click to expand...

At petco today when I when to buy a banana lily plant and some other aquarium plant I saw a little betta in a cup and I was tempted to take it home and put her in my 40g.

As I had stated earlier we all tend to give to much human emotion to other living things. If captivity is so bad why do most creatures in captivity out live their wild counter parts. The only example of one that doesn't is the camel. The reason for that is that we take to good of care of them.
So I believe a Betta in a little jar will still out live it's wild counter part in a puddle being eaten by birds or what ever. Most Betta's we see in bowl or captivity do not even know what the wild is or life outside of a jar. This life is normal to them and they know nothing different and they definitely have no fear of being eaten so a pretty stress free life. Their biggest worry is when is that human going to feed me.
We should all be worrying about the much larger problems in life and the world than what we are arguing over here. Maybe start worrying how long it will be and we will no longer be able to own our favorite fish.

wild bill said:

As I had stated earlier we all tend to give to much human emotion to other living things. If captivity is so bad why do most creatures in captivity out live their wild counter parts. The only example of one that doesn't is the camel. The reason for that is that we take to good of care of them.
So I believe a Betta in a little jar will still out live it's wild counter part in a puddle being eaten by birds or what ever. Most Betta's we see in bowl or captivity do not even know what the wild is or life outside of a jar. This life is normal to them and they know nothing different and they definitely have no fear of being eaten so a pretty stress free life. Their biggest worry is when is that human going to feed me.
We should all be worrying about the much larger problems in life and the world than what we are arguing over here. Maybe start worrying how long it will be and we will no longer be able to own our favorite fish.

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Perhaps the 'coldest' post I have read in this forum.

Hello; I see Wild Bill's point. Let me add an additional observation.

Bettas have particular housing requirements. Males cannot be in groups so must have a container of their own. There is a lively (probably profitable) trade in the fancy male bettas so the breeders are active. When a large number of male bettas are raised they have to be moved commercially. One of the natural advantages bettas have is the capacity to live in stagnant water by being able to take oxygen directly from the air. This allows them to survive in the tiny bowls we all see in the pet stores and lately at the service desk at my local Wal-Mart. Stores cannot have a tank full of male bettas for sale so it works out.

Another aspect of male betta housing is that they cannot be kept in good shape with fish that nip their fins. They are relatively slow swimmers and will have their fins shreded in the wrong company. So again they are not easily placed in a community tank and I either keep them in tanks alone or with very select tankmates.

The fact that they do well enough in the small containers by circumstance leads to them being kept in small containers.

For those upset about finding male bettas in the small containers, consider the culling that must go on in the betta trade. The females must be culled in fair numbers with only the best breeding stock kept.
Also the less than striking males likely are not kept to live out their natural span. Can you picture a breeder with hundreds of containers of sub-par bettas around just to be nice?

Good points and well put skji47 and very brave to tell the truth. Chopsteeks if you think my post was cold you obviously know nothing about nature. All I was trying to get across is that most of the fish we own would have died in the wild. This is a cold hard fact maybe 10 out of 600 cichlid fry would survive in the wild and other species of fish the numbers would drop more. Yes a bowl should not be a forever home for a gold fish and in 99 percent of cases it isn't. Even the one percent that it may be probably enjoy a more peaceful life than a wild fish.
I was also trying to remind everyone that there are people out there who want to end our right to own a pet. As pet owners we should spend more energy fighting these people than our fellow pet owners. Now I know I will be laughed at but take a look at how many pets we are no longer allowed to own these groups are winning. Fighting here only helps them and divides us thus we are being conquered. so lets enjoy our hobby help those who need it even donate a 20 gallon tank to a person with a goldfish in a bowl. This will keep us united and save our hobby and educate newbees who need our advice.